Ash Moon
by Farbautidottir
Summary: In this AU where Sirius isn't sent to Azkaban and raises Harry with his husband Remus, they all attend Ash Moon weekend, an annual tradition with the other remaining Order of the Phoenix members during the August new moon.


The best part of Ash Moon had finally arrived: the wish burning. The August Saturday had been long and a bit humid, raining in the afternoon just enough to break up their game of Dragon Chasers at the Muggle campgrounds they'd taken over for the weekend. This was the first year Harry got to be a dragon. Usually he had to be a chaser because the water-making spell was less difficult than the fire-making spell, but he'd successfully begged Uncle Sirius to teach it to him as his seventh birthday present.

So, of course, it would rain. Ron seemed pleased by this since he'd been stuck playing as a chaser with Neville and Ginny. Now it was all the ancient history of afternoon as Mr. Longbottom and Mr. Doge helped Mr. Weasley light the bonfire in the cool air of twilight.

"Now does anyone need a quill?" Mrs. Weasley was asking, a tin of feather quills in hand.

"I do." Uncle Remus called out from beside Harry.

She handed him one. "There you are, love."

"What's your wish this year?" Harry asked.

"Same as every year." Uncle Remus smiled distantly. "What about you? Still wishing to be Captain of the Chudley Cannons?"

"Not this year." Harry shook his head, saying nothing more.

"A secret then?" His uncle smiled. "Good. It's meant to be for it to come true."

Harry opened his piece of parchment to reread his wish. He wasn't wasting it this year.

_I wish for my uncles to find peace from my parents' death._

"Fire's ready!" Mr. Weasley declared, backing away from the blaze.

They all stood up and formed a loose circle around the fire, standing in clumps by family unit. Ash Moon was attended by nearly everyone who had fought in the Order of the Phoenix and survived the Wizarding War. The Weasleys, the Longbottoms, the Bones, Mr. Doge, Mr. Diggle, Ms. Figg—who Harry and Ron always thought smelled funny, but maybe that was just Fred's suggestion convincing them of it—Mr. Podmore, Mrs. McKinnon, and this year even Mr. Shacklebolt came.

There was always one open spot in the circle meant to represent Peter Pettigrew. Meant to remind everyone that the circle could be broken. Only last year did Uncle Sirius finally explain to Harry what had happened: Peter had betrayed his parents' Fidelus charm to Lord Voldemort, which Uncle Sirius had realized after discovering Peter was not in his hiding spot. Shortly after, he caught up to Peter and confronted him. This resulted in a duel between them, in which Peter died from a backfired curse, leaving behind only his index finger. The trial found Sirius innocent of wrongdoing, naming him a hero for acts of bravery against Dark forces, and he'd been granted his rightful guardianship of his godson, Harry.

Ron flashed Harry a grin from across the circle; they both loved the wish burning. His older brother Percy stood by him with his new but mangy pet rat, which he'd aptly named Scabbers. The rat had apparently showed up that July in the Burrow's den, near the radio. Harry thought it was ugly and dull, especially when compared to the rats sold in Diagon Alley, but both of his uncles had seemed particularly interested in it earlier in the day.

The rites of Ash Moon began, the adults leading the chant and the children joining in at the chorus.

"New moon of August, darkness abounds,

Fire's renewal, hear now our sounds,

Of words on parchment, our wishes burn,

Grant peace to ours lost while we still turn."

Soon it was their family's turn to burn their wishes. Harry felt a new sense of nervousness this year as his uncles guided him forward towards the heat of the stretching flames. Orange and yellow and flashes of red. He took a deep breath and held his parchment out, dropping it into the bonfire, soon to be followed by the two wishes of his uncles. Uncle Sirius pulled his small frame into a side hug and Uncle Remus kissed the top of his messy hair as they watched the parchment curl and blacken. The word peace illuminated from his parchment, and then it all became ash.

The night dwindled a long while after this, nostalgia and stories pouring from the adults as freely as the firewhisky Mr. Longbottom always brought along. When the fire was closer to embers than flame, a chain reaction of yawns set off by Mr. Doge indicated that it was time for bed. Harry's uncles ushered him to their magically enlarged tent, tucking him in before disappearing into their own closed-off room.

/\/\/\/\/

Breakfast sausage wafted through their camp the next day, making Harry even more hungry as he pulled on his trousers. He stumbled into the warm morning light, finding Ron with his brothers Percy and Charlie at the long picnic table. Mrs. Weasley and Mrs. Longbottom were busy at the kettles while their husbands laughed over tea alongside Harry's uncles. Ron elbowed Harry and nodded towards the Longbottoms' tent, where Fred and George were waiting outside with a whiz bang firecracker, hoping to catch Neville off guard.

Before their prank could play out, Ginny's piercing scream interrupted everything. She ran over to their picnic table holding a bloodied, mangled lump of grey fur. The adults were quick to her side, and the twins abandoned their plan in favor of the commotion.

"Percy!" She wailed.

Percy shot up.

"Scabbers?!" he gasped. "What could have done this?"

"It looks like a dog bite." Charlie said, glancing at the dead animal with scientific intrigue.

Harry immediately glanced at Uncle Sirius who he knew could turn into a big, black dog. His uncle was staring at Uncle Remus, though, who returned his intense gaze with an expression Harry couldn't decipher. It felt dark though. Darker than any magic he'd ever remembered feeling. Harry's entire body tingled as he realized his uncles had killed the rat. He turned back to the Weasleys.

"I bet it was a fox." Harry said.

"Yeah there's loads of foxes out here." Ron said.

"Could be a fox." Charlie nodded. "More likely than a dog, anyway."

Everyone relaxed, foxes the clear culprit.

"We should probably burn it in case the foxes come back. We have a lot of food here already." Uncle Remus said.

Percy looked crestfallen.

"Chin up, Perce, fire burial is how the Vikings did it!" Fred exclaimed.

"Not on the breakfast fire, Remus." Mrs. Weasley said, giving a nod towards the bonfire pit. "It'll do just fine over there."

The embers of the bonfire relit quick enough, with still a decent amount of charred wood left. Remus let Percy say a proper goodbye to Scabbers, and they watched as the flames consumed the small lump of fur. Uncle Sirius took Harry's hand and gave it a squeeze. Harry looked up to find his uncle's face relaxed, peaceful.

He wondered if his wish had already come true.


End file.
